California prepares to shut 220 state parks to make up budget shortfall

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to close 220 of California’s state parks to the public has been met by heavy criticism.

The California governor says that the state can no longer afford to run its parks after recording a budget shortfall of $26bn (£16bn). He hopes the closures will save the state millions of dollars in park maintenance and service costs over the next 12 months.

The National Parks Service has threatened to seize six sites if the closures go ahead, including the top of Mount Diablo

The proposal would affect 80% of California’s nature reserves and recreation areas and restrict access to 30% of the state’s coastline.

Affected areas would stretch from the Sierra Nevada mountains in the north of the state down to the deserts of San Diego and the beaches and wetlands of Big Sur. It would also force the closure of the only camp grounds inside the giant redwood forests to the north and block access to Lake Tahoe.

The area affected by the proposals would include the Sierra Nevada mountains

At least 2,000 park rangers, biologists, lifeguards and maintenance workers would be laid off if the proposal were adopted.

But the National Parks Service has threatened to seize six of the sites if Schwarzenegger goes ahead with the closures. It has issued a letter warning the governor that the six parks occupy former federal land that could revert to the US government if the state fails to keep them open.

California's governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has come under criticism for the proposal

The six sites include San Francisco’s Angel Island, which is home to the barracks where Chinese migrants were quarantined, the top of Mount Diablo, Point Sur State Historic Park in coastal Big Sur and three beaches Fort Ord Dunes near Monterey, Point Mugu State Park near Malibu, and Border Fields along the Mexican border.

In the letter, National Park Service Regional Director Jonathan Jarvis also warns that the state could also lose any future parks funding.

A spokesman for Schwarzenegger said: "We're reviewing the letter and state parks director Ruth Coleman is in the process of talking with the National Park Service and Jon Jarvis about these very issues.

"They are discussing a variety of outcomes and solutions depending on what final budget package is passed by the Legislature."

Schwarzenegger has rejected Democratic proposals to add a $15 fee to annual vehicle registrations to raise money to run the parks.

The National Park Service's California project manager David Siegenthaler said other options include reducing the parks' hours or days of operation. He said: “We want to work with them to see what those options might be, because we don't want to close parks, and I'm sure they don't want to either.”

San Francisco's Angel Island, which is home to the barracks where Chinese migrants were quarantined, could also be closed

Conservationists have raised concerns about the effect that a lack of
maintenance will have on the parks, and say that it will cost just as
much to keep people out as it would to run the parks. They also point
out that many of the parks act as a source of revenue for state and
local communities.

Tim Gibbs, programme manager at the National Parks Conservation Association said: "Each visitor to a state park is worth $57 per visit. The parks have generated millions throughout California. It's almost as if they are shooting themselves in the foot."